Drier for bricks and other products



Dec. 27, 1955 E. A. STEWART DRIER FOR BRICKS AND OTHER PRODUCTS Filed June 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. En osfl. Si'ewari' BY ATTORNEYS Dec. 27, 1955 E. A. STEWART DRIER FOR BRICKS AND OTHER PRODUCTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1952 INVENTOR. Enos/4. Siewari' ATTORNEYS United States Patent DRIER FOR BRICKS AND OTHER PRODUCTS Enos A. Stewart, Canton, Ohio Application June 27, 1952, Serial No. 295,988

Claims. (Cl. 34-213) The invention relates to driers, and more particularly to certain improvements in the construction and arrangement of driers for bricks, tiles, building blocks and other formed products of ceramics or other plastic material.

An object of the invention is to provide a drier in which waste heat from kilns or the like is conveyed to a fan through which it is discharged into conduits beneath the drier chambers, passing upward through openings in the floors of the drier chambers, and is withdrawn through ducts in the upper portions of the drier chambers and returned to the fan.

Another object is to provide such a drier in which the return ducts communicate with the entrance end portions of the drier chambers.

A further object is to provide a drier of the character referred to in which cold air is admitted to the entrance end of each drier chamber, to temper and mix with the hot air therein.

A still further object is to provide such a drier in which the cold air is discharged into the entrance end of the drier chamber by means of a fan.

Another object is to provide for discharging the cold air into the top of the drier chamber, near the entrance end thereof.

The above objects together with others which will be apparent from the drawings and following description, or which may be later pointed out, may be attained by constructing the improved drier in the manner hereinafter described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a section through the fan chamber and portions of the tunnel connecting the same with kilns or the like, showing portions of the discharge and return manifolds, and the discharge ends of a plurality of drier chambers, taken as on the line 1-1, Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 a longitudinal, sectional view through one of the drier chambers;

Fig. 3 a transverse section through the entrance end portions of a plurality of drier chambers, showing the means for discharging cold air therein, taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 a plan sectional view of a plurality of drier chambers.

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, in which similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout, a portion of a tunnel for conveying waste heat from one or more kilns or the like, is indicated at It), communicating with the lower portion of the fan chamber 11, in which is located a blower fan 12 adapted to be rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. l, by any suitable and well known means.

A tunnel 13 communicates with the lower end of the fan chamber 11, so that hot air drawn into the fan chamber from the tunnel It is discharged therethrough in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 1.

A plurality of drier chambers, located in juxtaposition to each other and in parallel relationship, are indicated at 14, these drier chambers preferably being inclined slightly downwardly from the entrance end 15 to to the discharge end 16 which is located adjacent to the tunnel 13.

Rails 17 are provided upon the floor 18 of each drier chamber for conveying cars 19 therethrough, bearing stacks 20 of bricks, tile or other formed plastic objects to be dried.

Doors 21 and 22 are provided at the entrance and discharge ends respectively of the drier chambers for keeping the chambers normally closed so that air may be circulated therethrough in the manner to be later described.

A series of ducts 23, extending longitudinally beneath the floors of the drier chambers, communicate with the tunnel 13. Apertures 24 are provided in the floor 13 of each drier chamber, communicating with the corresponding duct 23, so that hot air discharged from the fan chamber through the tunnel 13 to the ducts 23 may pass upward through the openings 24 into the drier chambers 14, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3.

A return manifold 25 is located above the discharge ends of the drier chambers and communicates with the upper end of the fan housing 11 as indicated at 26. A return duct 27 is located in the upper portion of each drier chamber and extends substantially the entire length of the chamber, communicating at its forward end with the return manifold 25 as indicated at 28, the open end 29 of each of said return ducts being located adjacent to the entrance end of the corresponding drier chamber.

With this construction air is withdrawn from the entrance end of each drier chamber through the corresponding duct 27 to the return manifold 25, through which it is returned to the fan chamber 11 where it is mixed with the incoming hot air from the waste heat tunnel 10 and again discharged through the tunnel 13 and ducts 23 to the drier chambers.

For the purpose of admitting cold air to the drier chambers 14, in order to mix with and temper the hot air therein, a duct 30 is located transversely of the drier chambers, above the entrance end thereof, having a cold air intake 31 at one end and a blower fan 32 therein for drawing in cold air and discharging it through the duct 30 and into the upper portion of the entrance end of each drier chamber through the openings 33 in the roofs 34 of the drier chambers, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3.

With this construction and arrangement, whenever the temperature within the drier chambers becomes higher than desirable the fan 32 may be operated to discharge cold air into the drier chambers, to mix with and temper the hot air therein, so that a desired temperature may be maintained within the drier chambers.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention or discovery, the construction, the operation, and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A drier including a fan housing, a fan in the housing, a Waste heat tunnel communicating with the intake side of the tan housing, a discharge tunnel communicating with the discharge side of the fan housing, floors, side walls and roofs enclosing a plurality of elongated, parallel drier chambers each having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening at its other end, a duct beneath thefioor of each chamber and coextensive therewith, said ducts communicating with said discharge tunnel, there being openings in the floors of the chambers communicating with said ducts throughout their lengths, a cold air duct located transverselyof the drier chambers, there being openings in the roofs of the chambers forming communication with the cold air duct, a fan in the cold air duct for discharging cold air into the drier chambers, return ducts in the drier chambers and a return manifold communicating with said return ducts and with the intake side of the fan housing.

2. A drier including a fan housing, a fan in the housing, a Waste heat tunnel communicating with the intake side of the fan housing, a discharge tunnel communicating with the discharge side of the fan housing, floors, side walls and roofs enclosing a plurality of elongated, parallel drier chambers each having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening at its other end, a duct beneath the floor of each chamber and coextensive therewith, said ducts communicating with said discharge tunnel, there being openings in the floors of the chambers communicating with said ducts throughout their lengths, a cold air duct located transversely of the drier chambers, there being openings in the roofs of the chambers forming communication'with the cold air duct, o fan in the cold air duct for discharging cold air into the drier chambers, return ducts in-the upper portions of the drier chambers and a return manifold communicating with said return ducts and with the intake side of the fan housing.

3. A drier including a fan housing, a fan in the housing, a waste heat tunnel communicating with the intake side of the fan housing, a discharge tunnel communicating with the discharge side of the fan housing, floors, side walls and roofs enclosing a plurality of elongated, parallel drier chambers each having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening at its other end, a duct beneath the floor of each chamber and coextensive therewith, said ducts communicating with said discharge tunnel, there being openings in the floors of the chambers communicating With said ducts throughout their lengths, a cold air duct located transversely of the drier chambers, there being openings in the roofs of the chambers forming communication with the cold air duct, a fan in the cold air duct for discharging cold air into the drier chambers, return ducts in the upper portions of the drier chambers extending to the entrance ends of the chambers, and a return manifold communicating with said return ducts and with the intake side of the fan housing.

4. A drier including a fan housing, a fan in the housing, a Waste heat tunnel communicating with the intake side of the fan housing, a discharge tunnel communicating With the discharge side of the fan housing, floors, side Walls and roofs enclosing a plurality of elongated, parallel drier chambers, each having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening at the other end, a duct beneath the floor of each chamber and coextensive therewith, said ducts communicating with said discharge tunnel, there being openings in the floors of the chambers communieating with said ducts throughout their lengths, there being inlet openings in the roofs of the drier chambers, means for discharging cold air under pressure through said inlet openings into the drier chambers, return ducts in the upper portions of the drier chambers extending to the entrance ends of the chambers, and a return manifold communicating with said return ducts and with the intake side of the fan housing.

5. A drier including a tan housing, a tan in the housing, a waste heat tunnel communicating with the intake side of the fan housing, a discharge tunnel communicating with the discharge side of the fan housing, floors, side walls and roofs enclosing a plurality of elongated, parallel drier chambers, each having an entrance opening at one end and an exit opening at the other end, a duct beneath the floor of each chamber and coextensive therewith, said ducts communicating with said discharge tunnel, there being openings in the floors of the chambers communicating with said ducts throughout their lengths, there being inlet openings in the roofs of the drier chambers near the entrance ends thereof, means for discharging cold air under pressure through said inlet openings into the drier chambers, return ducts in the upper portions of the drier chambers extending to the entrance ends of the chambers, and a return manifold communieating with said return ducts and with the intake side of the fan housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

